Presence information for typical instant messenger services is based on an invitation from one user to another user. Each user must register with the instant messenger service and setup an account to become a member in order to share the presence information with others on the user's “buddy list.” Users on each other's buddy list can engage in instant messaging (usually in the form of real-time text-based message exchange) or voice chat based on the presence state of each user. The presence state of each user is typically set manually by the user to values such as “busy,” “do-not-disturb,” “out to lunch,” “available,” and “appear offline.” This basic level of presence information is often a rough approximation of the user's actual status and reveals very little about the status of a user who is browsing a particular website. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved solution for facilitating communication between website visitors.